Arkansas Family Council

Today the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s opinion that a recently passed law that would prohibit unmarried, cohabitating couples from adopting or fostering children is unconstitutional. The court ruled that the law, which was targeted at gay and lesbian families, needlessly violated their right to privacy. As Arkansas Justice Robert Brown maintained, under the ban such couples “must choose either to lead a life of private, sexual intimacy with a partner without the opportunity to adopt or foster children or forego sexual cohabitation and, thereby, attain eligibility to adopt or foster.”

Naturally outraged, the far-right Arkansas Family Council condemned the decision as “judicial tyranny” and “anti-child.” The AFC actually brought in the Alliance Defense Fund to defend the adoption prohibition, which was passed in 2008, because the group didn’t trust the state’s Democratic administration to effectively defend the law:

“This is a classic example of judicial tyranny,” said Family Council Action Committee President Jerry Cox. “We have said all along that Act One was about child welfare, and fifty-seven percent of the voters in 2008 agreed. They declared that the State of Arkansas has an obligation to adoptive and foster children to ensure that they are placed in the best possible homes. The Arkansas Supreme Court has chosen to run roughshod over the people’s will and refused to uphold a good law that protected the children in the state’s care.”

Cox said, “I’d like to personally thank the 75 county coordinators and 2,700 volunteers who helped gather signatures to get Act One on the ballot. They worked hard to gather over 100,000 signatures between January and August of 2008. It is because of their dedication that this good law made it on the ballot and passed in 73 counties. I will be forever grateful to everyone who put time and effort into this worthy initiative.

“Today’s ruling was anti-child,” said Cox. “The ACLU couldn’t defeat this good law in a fair election, so they used the court system against the people of Arkansas. This is the worst decision ever handed down by the Arkansas Supreme Court.”

Earlier this month we noted that the Arkansas Family Council had scheduled a two-day seminar for Arkansas legislators to be held today and tomorrow that was to be led by David Barton, who was going to teach them that helping the poor is not the government's responsibility.

But, at the last minute, Barton backed out without providing an explanation:

Evangelical activist David Barton has declined an invitation from the Family Council to speak to Arkansas lawmakers at the state Capitol, Family Council President Jerry Cox said Monday.

Cox said he did not know why Barton declined. The Family Council had reserved a room at the Capitol for Barton to hold a seminar today and Wednesday. The Christian conservative Family Council has no plans to reschedule the seminar, Cox said.

If Rep. Michele Bachmann believes that David Barton is qualified to teach members of Congress about the Constitution, I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the Arkansas Family Council is bringing Barton in for a two-day seminar to impart his wisdom to state legislators and government officials:

A political activist who claims America was founded on biblical principles has been invited to speak to elected officials at the state Capitol later this month.

The Christian conservative Family Council has asked David Barton to hold a seminar for state legislators and constitutional officers on Jan. 25 and 26 and has reserved the Old Supreme Court chamber on those dates, said Jerry Cox, the group's executive director.

Barton, of Aledo, Texas, is the founder of the group WallBuilders and the author of several books on American history. Cox said he has spoken with Barton and is 90 percent certain he will accept the invitation.

Barton has argued that the Founding Fathers intended for the United States to be a Christian nation and did not support the separation of church and state as the phrase is understood today. Cox said Barton will discuss his views on the proper role of government, including his belief that "helping the poor ... is primarily a function of the church," not government.

Cox said he agrees with Barton's views and wants to help educate lawmakers who will be sworn into office next week, the first week of the legislative session.

"I want to help our lawmakers understand what the role of government is and then try to keep the laws that we pass within the bounds of the proper role of government," he said.

Maybe Barton will use the seminar to encourage Arkansas legislators to regulate gay sex.

Last month we mentioned that the Arkansas Family Council was seeking in intervene in the lawsuit challenging the initiative passed last November barring gay couples from adopting children because they did not believe that the state's Attorney General would work hard enough to defend it and demanding that the Alliance Defense Fund be allowed to step in to do so.

Today, a state judge granted the request:

A state judge ruled Friday that a conservative group can intervene in a lawsuit challenging Arkansas' ban on unmarried couples adopting or fostering children.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza on Friday granted the Arkansas Family Council's request to help the state defend Initiated Act 1 that the council worked to put on the November election ballot.

The judge said after an hour-long hearing that his decision was not a reflection of how he felt about Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's ability to handle the case. Piazza said he believed allowing the group to help defend the measure would allow the case to be "fully developed."

"I'm a firm believer that you can't be afraid of what someone is going to say," Piazza said.

Byron Babione, an attorney representing the council, said the conservative group had a unique interest in the case because it had pushed to get the measure on the ballot and had mobilized volunteers during its successful fall campaign.

Babione also noted that McDaniel and Gov. Mike Beebe, both Democrats, had opposed the act. Beebe and McDaniel had both publicly opposed the measure during the election, and McDaniel's political action committee gave $1,000 to a group that campaigned against the new restriction.

"Nobody really likes to have their interests represented by somebody who doesn't believe in their cause," said Babione, who is senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.